2026 Recycling and Waste Diversion

The Recycling and Waste Diversion Grant is offered by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division as part of the Solid Waste Trust Fund Grant Program. The program supports the goals of the Solid Waste Trust Fund by providing financial support for projects in Georgia that reduce solid waste, recover valuable materials, support manufacturing, and encourage innovation. Projects are expected to meet the criteria described in Rule 391-3-21-.17 of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, which are designed to ensure that funded projects demonstrate financial sustainability and quantitative results. Eligible applicants and recipients include counties, municipalities, combinations of counties or municipalities, and public authorities, agencies, commissions, or institutions. The program is geographically focused on projects in Georgia. Eligible applicants may develop proposals that best support the needs of their communities, provided that proposed projects focus on increasing recycling, reducing waste, and/or diverting recoverable materials from the solid waste stream in accordance with authorized uses of the Solid Waste Trust Fund. Potential projects include creating, expanding, or improving recycling and waste diversion infrastructure at materials recovery facilities, recycling transfer stations, convenience centers, or through other equipment that increases capacity to serve customers. The program can also support recycling hub and spoke infrastructure, collection, distribution, and logistics; facilities addressing hard-to-recycle materials or household hazardous waste; projects that collect or process new material streams; local waste reduction programs; and projects demonstrating innovative waste reduction processes or innovative uses of recycled products. The source does not state an award minimum, award maximum, total program funding amount, number of awards, or required matching contribution. For the FY 2027 cycle, applications will be accepted online through the Solid Waste Trust Fund Grant Administration Portal from August 24, 2026 through September 30, 2026. Applications, reimbursement requests, and quarterly and final reports are handled through the Portal. An RWD Application Signature Page is identified among the available program documents. Additional listed resources include a W9, Contractor Affidavit, Invoicing and Reporting Presentation, Draft RWD Grant Agreement Template, and RWD Grant Overview. FY27 RWD Grant Guidance is listed as coming soon, so the provided source does not yet establish a complete set of application questions, required uploads, evaluation details, award notification timing, or performance period. The Solid Waste Trust Fund Grant Team will hold an informational webinar on August 24, 2026 at 1:00 PM covering eligibility, project examples, and the Portal application process. The team will also hold virtual workshops on September 14, 2026 and September 28, 2026 at 1:00 PM. Interested applicants may use the workshops to ask questions or obtain application assistance on a first-come, first-served basis. The workshops are open to all, and participation does not guarantee a grant award. These webinars and workshops are applicant assistance opportunities rather than pre-application gating requirements. The program emphasizes proposals that demonstrate financial sustainability and quantitative results. Applicants should therefore connect proposed recycling or waste diversion activities to measurable results and demonstrate how the project will sustainably advance recycling, material recovery, waste reduction, or related infrastructure in Georgia. The source identifies no separate letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, notice of intent, or other mandatory pre-application stage before submission of the full application. Questions about the program and requests to join the mailing list for future grant-cycle notifications may be directed to the Solid Waste Trust Fund Grant Team at SWTF.Grant@dnr.ga.gov. The source lists previous RWD Grant cycles for FY23, FY24, FY25, and FY26 in addition to the announced FY27 cycle, supporting treatment of the opportunity as recurring annually. Based on the FY27 opening date of August 24, 2026, the next cycle is projected for August 2027 for internal tracking purposes. The current FY27 application window opens August 24, 2026 and closes September 30, 2026.

Projects coordinated with other eligible applicants or using Georgia-based suppliers can earn bonus points. Provide clear and specific descriptions and align budget terminology with narrative.